I'll be Home for Christmas
by Roxy Earhardt-Myers
Summary: Taylor and Eric celebrate Christmas.
1. Taylor

**Taylor**

Strong arms pulled her closer and a face nuzzled into her neck. She sighed happily as warm breath tickled her skin.

The sound of an alarm pulled Taylor from her dream. The air was warm and her single bed lacked the space for anyone sleeping next to her. With another sigh she pushed away the sheets and sat up. Gathering a clean uniform the Air Force captain made her way to the showers. Today was her day of extra shower privileges and Taylor greedily took advantage to wash the grease and sand from her hair.

Leaving her hair loose to dry, she made her way back across the base to her quarters.

'Merry Christmas, captain!' one of her airman greeted as he was making his way to the showers.

Taylor just waved at him and felt a sad tug at her heart. A note pinned to her door had her smiling, however. She quickly went inside and started up her laptop before opening Skype. Her call was answered on the second ring.

Eric's smiling face appeared on her screen framed by a Christmas tree behind him and the shadows of a fire burning in the fireplace dancing across his features. Obviously he'd been sitting on the floor by the tree, waiting for her to come online.

'Hi,' she mouthed at him, enjoying the opportunity to silently stare at him.

'Hey,' he mouthed back, letting the silence stretch as he took her in.

A few moments later the silence was disturbed by a cry and the sound of running feet. Two boys appeared on screen. The younger settled in Eric's lap while the older hang around his neck. Taylor laughed and tears prickled in her eyes at seeing her family.

'Hey,' Taylor smiled.

'Hey, mommy,' the elder boy called brightly and Taylor saw Eric wince at the volume of the exclamation right next to his ear. Her younger son just waved. 'Merry Christmas! Daddy says it's already Christmas for you.'

'It sure is,' Taylor agreed. 'But I don't have a pretty Christmas tree like you guys.'

'Bray picked it.'

The little boy in Eric's lap nodded, now having stuck his thumb into his mouth.

'You have a good eye for tree picking, Brayden. What are you doing for Christmas tomorrow?' Taylor asked, leaning forward in her chair.

'Grandpa Alan,' Brayden said around his thumb.

'Are you visiting grandpa?'

'Yeah, eh invited us for dinner,' her eldest son nodded. 'And uncle Wes and aunt Jen are going to be there too with Iris, Brooke and Michael. And we get to have a sleepover in one of the big beds. I have to share with Bray again. Can't we get our own? Grandpa Alan has enough.'

'Slow down, Ezra. Breathe,' Taylor laughed. 'You could always ask grandpa, but think of your poor father. He would first have to tug you into one of those big beds and then walk all the way to another room with a big bed to tug Brayden in. Grandpa's house is a lot bigger than ours and daddy's getting old.'

Eric looked indignant at the suggestion of being old, but Ezra was nodding again.

'Wil you come to dinner too, mommy?' Brayden asked.

'Well…' Taylor started hesitantly.

'Of course,' Eric cut in, finally speaking. 'Grandpa Alan promised to save her a seat. Ezra can sit next to her and you get to sit next to me.' Brayden looked up at Eric with an excited smile. 'And you know what. I happened to talk to Santa and he said that if mommy managed to call tonight you may each open one present already so she can see, but then you'll have to go to bed.'

Both boys whooped happily and Eric pulled two packages from under the tree. Taylor watched her sons rip the wrappings off and show her their presents. Ezra got a Transformer toy and Brayden a Lego Juniors Marvel set. Eric gently reminded the boys it was time for bed now and send them upstairs, telling them he'd be right up.

Taylor smiled at him. 'You did good on those presents.'

'Thanks, the key was ignoring Wes and the age indications,' Eric smiled and Taylor laughed. 'There's a few under there for you as well. I'll keep them wrapped for you and safe from the boys until you get back.'

'I wish I was back already. I'm missing out on so much. Is Ezra still enjoying school? Has Brayden had any accidents?'

'No, Brayden has not had any accidents since I threw the diapers out. And so far, yeah Ezra seems to be enjoying school. But I'm not. They had a Christmas thing and parents were invited too. I got hit on again by moms thinking I was a single dad and available, since they've never seen Ezra's mom around.'

'We'll bring him to school together. Have a "first day of school" do-over while we're at it.'

'I'll make sure to have the day off and Brayden does go to day-care so we'll have the day for just the two of us.'

Taylor shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the ideas of how exactly she would spend such a day and saw a smirk appear on Eric's face as he caught the movement. 'Can't we ask grandpa to take the kids for a week or two?'

'I'm sure grandpa wouldn't mind, but the boys might protest since they're missing you just as much as me. They will most certainly disagree with spending another week or two without you.'

'I guess you're right. I've never been this ready to come home from deployment, though.'

'Because you have people to come home to,' Eric pointed out with a soft smile. 'Just don't do anything stupid to come home earlier, Earhardt. We want you home in one piece.'

'That's Myers to you,' Taylor grinned. Eric smirked again in reply. 'I should get going,' she sighed reluctantly.

'I should go put our sons to bed.'

Taylor stared for a moment longer before reaching to cut the connection.

'Wait, one more thing,' Eric stopped her.

Taylor raised her eyebrow at him and Eric just smiled. Raising a mistletoe and holding it over his head. Taylor laughed, tears once again in her eyes. She pressed a kiss to her fingers and pressed them to the screen to cover his lips.

'See you soon,' Eric told her longingly.

'I'll be counting down the days,' Taylor nodded before quickly cutting the connection. She buried her face in her hands. Almost eight months away from her family now. Eric had picked a school for Ezra on his own, with a little help from Wes and Jen, and he'd been alone on their son's first day of school and every day after. Brayden was now out of diapers and had been for a few months. And now her husband was handling Christmas alone.

A knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts. 'Captain Myers, ma'am. Are you coming to breakfast?'

'I'll be right there, Parker,' she called out and started fixing her now dry hair back into its regulation braid.

Five minutes later she entered the mess hall. Her squad was gathered at one of the tables. Food was covering the table. Real bread rolls and fancier foods than standard rations to celebrate Christmas. No one was eating yet, the seat at the head of the table left empty. Taylor took the hint and sat down with a smile.

'Morning, captain,' the table coursed, making Taylor's smile grow wider.

'Good morning and merry Christmas,' she replied. 'If you were waiting for me, say grace and tug in.'

Food was passed around and plates were filled quickly.

'Did you manage to make the call home?' one of her airman asked Taylor.

'Yeah, they had the internet back up just in time,' Taylor smiled. 'The house is still standing.'

'Six more weeks,' one of her lieutenants smiled encouragingly. 'You'll be home in time for the birthday of your youngest, right?'

'Yeah, with a few days to spare. He'll turn 3 on February 10th and Ezra will be 6 already on March 4th. At least I'm not missing out on their birthdays.'

'Speaking of birthdays,' airman Parker started, standing up. 'I have an announcement to make. When I opened my email this morning, I had a message from home. My girlfriend gave birth to our daughter at 15.49 local time. We named her Amelia.'

'After Amelia Earhart?' someone asked.

'My girlfriend actually wanted to call her Taylor,' Parker admitted. 'I convinced her that might be a bit overdone.'

'So instead she's named after me in a more convoluted way?' Taylor asked, raising an eyebrow? 'Poor kid.'

'My girlfriend insisted she'd be named after the woman keeping me safe out here,' Parker blushed.

'Well, it's spelled differently and I don't think I deserve this honour. So thank you for talking her out of the name Taylor. But now I will have to make sure I'm taking your ass back home in one piece. Congratulations,' Taylor nodded at Parker and raised her cup of coffee. 'To Amelia.'

The rest of the table followed her and echoed the call, Parker shining with pride. They were all missing out on so much with their families back home. But at least they had each other to share some happy moments with. No matter the distance, everyone was home for Christmas today. If only in their dreams.

 _A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day. I broke this story into two chapters because it was getting too long. Hope I'll finish that one in a bit. So keep an eye out for chapter 2!_


	2. Eric

**Eric**

Eric woke up to the air being knocked out of him. Ezra and Brayden had jumped onto the bed, reminding him Christmas had arrived. As if he needed reminding. Ignoring the painfully empty bed beside him for yet another morning, he got up. The boys raced ahead of him and made a beeline to the Christmas tree.

'Breakfast first,' Eric reminded them. His sons followed him into the kitchen reluctantly and took their seats at the table.

After making sure the coffee was running, Eric set to making pancakes, popping some bread in the toaster for himself. Fifteen minutes later Ezra and Brayden were tucking in. Eric watched them as he leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee and munching on his toast with jelly.

The boys finished their breakfast in record time and moved to go to the living room again.

'Dishes,' Eric told them.

Bursting with barely suppressed energy they picked their plates and cutlery form the table and put them on the kitchen counter. Ezra helped Brayden, who still was a little too short to put the plate far enough on the counter as to not fall off again. Then the two ran off to the living room for a third time.

Eric watched them go with a smile and followed at a more sedate pace. He separated the presents into four piles, two bigger ones for the boys and two smaller ones for him and Taylor. Paper was ripped off quickly, the kids barely pausing to see what they got. Once their presents were unwrapped, they eyed the other presents giddily. Eric quickly unwrapped his four presents, saving Wes and Jen's gift for last since it was the only one he didn't know what it was.

It took a little convincing for the boys to agree to leave Taylor's wrapped until she got home. They were soon distracted when Eric suggested they play with their new toys for a little before he would take them somewhere on a surprise trip.

Keeping an eye on his playing sons, Eric settled in his chair with his laptop. He smiled when he saw Taylor had managed to sneak online and send an email. There were just a few short lines and a few attachments. Opening the first photo his smile grew. The whole squad was posing with one of the birds and he could just make out the markings to identify 'Yellow Eagle'. Half the squad was wearing Christmas hats and all were holding a cigar, only some of them actually light. Taylor had been badgered into the middle of the group and with the way airman Parker was beaming next to her, Eric figured the cigars were his.

The second picture was of just Taylor. Someone had put their Christmas hat on her head, his aviator sunglasses she'd stolen were on her nose and she was grinning and posing with the cigar.

There were a few more pictures of Taylor with her squad. Eric let out a quiet sigh of longing. Just six more weeks. He closed his inbox before he could get too down and settled on going over some reports for work to distract himself for a while.

Around ten he closed laptop and got himself and the boys dressed and into the car. With a DVD of Paw Patrol playing in the backseat entertainment system to keep his sons busy, Eric got the car on the road for the hour's drive into the mountains.

He smiled when they arrived and saw the reaction of his sons in the rear view mirror when they finally spotted the snow outside. Eric parked at a diner where they had a hot chocolate and grilled cheese sandwich lunch before he set the boys free in the snow. With a smile Eric watched them play. Ezra showed his brother how to make snow angels and Eric pulled out the camera he'd brought to shoot some photos for Taylor.

'How about we build a snowman for mommy?' he suggested. The idea was met with much enthusiasm and for the next hour they busied themselves building the very best snowman they could.

When it was finished Eric flagged down a passing family, returning to the diner from a hike through the mountains, to take a picture. Ezra stood next to the snowman on one side, making himself as tall as he could. While Eric kneeled down on the other side, Brayden sitting on his knee.

They kept up the snow fun for another hour before the boys started complaining about being cold and wet and Brayden started to yawn. Eric strapped them back into their car seats, turned the heating up and started the drive back home. Within minutes both boys were fast asleep and Eric grinned. Mission accomplished.

How exactly he'd gone from barely trusting anyone and only relying on himself to having a wife and two kids in the backseat of his truck, he didn't quite know. But he knew he never wanted to go back. Pulling Taylor over for a speeding tickets turned out to have changed his life for the better.

Back home the boys were still dead to the world. Eric carried them to their rooms. He quickly showered, changed and emailed the photos to Taylor. When he finished Ezra and Brayden were waking up again and he got them dressed to go to Christmas dinner too.

Two hours later he found himself at the dinner table in the Collin's mansion, surrounded by people he considered his family now. Across the table Wes and Jen were sitting with their kids. Jen on one end, feeding one-year-old Michael his baby food as he sat in his highchair next to her. Eight-year-old Iris was next to her with a plate of chicken nuggets and fries. Beside her sat six-year-old Brooke, tucking into her mac and cheese. Wes sat next to his youngest daughter at the other end of the table, talking to his dad seated at the head and unconsciously stopping Brooke from making a mess. Ezra sat proudly across from Wes, feeling like a big boy for being allowed to eat by himself, but agreed to grandpa Alan to cut his ham when it proved harder than he thought.

As promised the seat between Ezra and Eric was set, but left empty. And Brayden sat on Eric's other side so Eric could help him with his food when needed.

'Why is there an empty plate for aunt Taylor when she isn't even here?' Iris suddenly asked, cutting through the happy atmosphere at the table.

'You know how you like to play pretend with your friends?' Wes asked gently.

'Yeah.'

'Well, this is like that. Aunt Taylor can't be here this year, but we wish she was. So we've set a place for her to remind us she's part of this family. And even though she's not present, she's here in spirit. She's here in our hearts,' Wes explained.

'Oh.'

'Now why don't you eat your nuggets and fries?'

'I don't like nuggets,' Iris answered, pushing her plate away and crossing her arms.

'I asked you yesterday what you wanted for dinner and you said nuggets,' Wes said exasperatedly.

'That was yesterday. I changed my mind.'

Jen buried her head in her hands with a groan. Wes glared at Eric as if it was his fault the girls were picky eaters. Brooke pushed her plate away, mimicking her big sister.

'I don't like it anymore,' she proclaimed.

Eric shared a look with Alan and smirked, ruffling Brayden's hair as the boy continued eating the same ham the adults were enjoying. Michael decided that was the perfect moment to start crying.

As Jen fussed over her son in hopes of calming him down and Wes started negotiations to bribe his daughters into finishing their plates, Eric shot a look at the empty seat next to him.

For a moment he could see Taylor sitting next to him, suppressing a laugh as she caught his eye and smiled. The message was clear; dinner was never boring when Wes's kids were involved. But thank the Power their sons were surprisingly easy kids.

The moment was lost, but Eric knew. Taylor was home for Christmas. If only in his dreams.

 _A/N: Again Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoyed my little story. If you ask really nicely... I've got a few scenes related to this fic in my head that I might be convinced to write._


End file.
